Boston University College of Fine Arts 2011-2012 Season Highlights
Press Release
Boston, MA – The Boston University College of Fine Arts is proud to announce its 2011-2012 season, featuring concerts, plays, operas, exhibitions, and lectures from CFA’s schools of Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. Every year faculty and staff from the College identify a selection of events from each discipline to highlight among the hundreds of performances and visual arts events presented throughout the academic year.
New this year, much of CFA’s programming, discussions, and collaborations will revolve around an annual theme, or keyword, and this year the keyword is violence. From September through May, we will present a range of works that comment on its many different aspects – including the domestic violence of Bluebeard’s Castle, political violence in Execution of Justice, and Enrique Chagoya’s lithographs depicting violent collisions of cultures. No piece of art, no matter how forceful, reflective or coherent, can offer answers – it can only provoke discussion by presenting one perspective on a multifaceted issue. By tapping into the diverse perspectives of the BU and Greater Boston communities, we want to create a dialogue that explores solutions to this devastating societal issue.
In addition to this full schedule of events in Boston, students, faculty, and alumni will once again gather in New York in March 2012 for the InCite Arts Festival, an annual presentation of bold and intriguing works that showcase the artistic strengths and synergy of the CFA community.
SEASON SCHEDULE
Oct 7-29
15th Annual Fall Fringe Festival
The ever-popular Fringe Festival, a special collaboration between the School of Music Opera Institute and the School of Theatre, produces new or rarely-performed works in a 90-seat black box venue, bringing performers and audiences together for a unique theatrical experience.
Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210
Featured Productions
Bluebeard’s Castle V
Oct 7-9
Music by Béla Bartók
Libretto by Béla Balázs
Based on a French fairy tale by Charles Perrault
A psychologically probing tale of a young bride’s insistence on opening all the locked doors of her new husband’s castle. Despite his protestations, she persists, with disturbing consequences.
Tickets now on sale: $7, General Admission. BU community: One free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Three Decembers V
Oct 14-16
Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Gene Scheer
Based on an original play by Terrence McNally
This powerful and poignant one-act opera explores the painful and complex relationships between a famous actress and her two grown children, as they unfold the family’s hidden truths: infidelity, separation, homophobia and AIDS, tragedy, and loss.
Tickets now on sale: $7, General Admission. BU community: One free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Intimate Apparel*
Oct 22-29
Lynn Nottage, playwright
Judy Braha, director
In 1905, a black New York City seamstress sews lingerie for clients ranging from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. “…thoughtful, affecting…The play offers poignant commentary on an era when the cut and color of one’s dress—and of course, skin—determined whom one could and could not marry, sleep with, even talk to in public.” —Variety.
Tickets now on sale: $7, General Admission. BU community: One free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Art Song Meets Theatre V
Oct 28
This evening of staged songs concludes a residency by renowned composer Jake Heggie, who joins singers from the School of Music to perform selections from his vast song literature, including a new cycle marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.
Free admission, but reservations required. Call 617-353-5201 for information.
Oct 19
Contemporary Perspectives Lecture: Phoebe Washburn
An American installation artist based in New York, Phoebe Washburn composes large-scale works with cast-off materials such as cardboard boxes, wood, and newspaper, in a painstaking process that produces what she calls “spontaneous architecture” and “spectacles of environments.” The raw beauty of her work has made Washburn one of the country’s most closely-watched artists, with shows in the Deutsche Guggenheim, Whitney Biennial 2008, and Zach Feuer Gallery.
Morse Auditorium
Free and open to the public. Call 617-353-3371 for information.
Oct 27-Dec 4
School of Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition
Representing a wide range of visual interests, the 2011 BU School of Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition spans genres and media from realism to abstraction, two to three dimensions, small to very large scale. This triennial exhibition will feature the work of 23 artists who currently teach at the University in the areas of painting, sculpture, printmaking, graphic design, and photography.
Opening Reception Oct 27, 6-8pm.
808 Gallery
Free and open to the public. Call 617-353-3371 for information.
Nov 9-20
House
Daniel MacIvor, playwright
Tara L. Matkosky, director
House blurs the boundaries between actor and audience through an intimate relationship with Victor, a man in crisis. In this unpredictable ride riddled with black humor and vivid storytelling, Victor spins an unforgettable theatrical experience. A production from the Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP), the professional extension of the BU School of Theatre.
Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210
Tickets on sale September 1: $20 general public, $15 BU alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Nov 17
Contemporary Perspectives Lecture: Enrique Chagoya V
Drawing from his experiences living in Mexico and the U.S., Enrique Chagoya juxtaposes secular, popular, and religious symbols through his painting, drawing, and printmaking to address the ongoing cultural clashes in the world. Professor Chagoya heads the painting program at Stanford University, and has work in the collections of major museums throughout the country, and has been shown nationally and internationally.
CFA Concert Hall
Free and open to the public. Call 617-353-3371 for information.
Nov 21
BU Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus at Symphony Hall V
Ann Howard Jones, conductor
Schoenberg: A Survivor from Warsaw
Verdi: Requiem
Symphony Hall
Tickets on sale October 1; $25 general admission. Student Rush $10, available at the door, day of performance, 10am-6pm. BU community: One free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, 10am-6pm. Box Office: www.BostonSymphonyHall.org or 617.266.1200.
Dec 9-16
Imaginary Invalid*
Molière, playwright
Emily Ranii, director
In Molière’s popular and bawdy comedy, the wealthy Argan is a housebound hypochondriac whose scheme to marry his daughter Angelique to a doctor is driven by one thing: free medical care. A biting satire of both the medical profession and French society, Molière’s final play exhibits the unique talent that sealed his reputation as one of the most important dramatists in French history.
BCA Calderwood Pavilion—Wimberly Theatre
Tickets on sale September 1: $12 general public, $10 BU Alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Feb 9-25
Monster V
Neal Bell, playwright
Jim Petosa, director
A brilliant stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein from Obie-award winning playwright Neal Bell, Monster provides a disturbing yet poignant look at one man’s insatiable quest to defeat death by creating life, and the dreadful results of abandoning his creation. A provocative production from the Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP), the professional extension of the BU School of Theatre.
Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210
Tickets on sale September 1: $20 general public, $15 BU alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Feb 17-24
Execution of Justice* V
Emily Mann, playwright
Elaine Vaan Hogue, director
A brilliant portrayal of the Dan White trial after the 1978 assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and gay city supervisor Harvey Milk of San Francisco. Mann tells the story in a provocative and multilayered way, offering as many questions as answers about a tragic chapter in the city’s transition to its current political and social climate.
BCA Calderwood Pavilion—Wimberly Theatre
Tickets on sale September 1: $12 general public, $10 BU Alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Feb 23-26
Il Matrimonio Segreto
Music by Domenico Cimarosa
Libretto by Giovanni Bertati
after The Clandestine Marriage (1766) by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick
William Lumpkin, conductor
This farcical domestic comedy features arranged marriages, dowries, feuding sisters, tangled circumstances, banishment to convents, and misdirected romantic aspirations. Inspired in part by Hogarth’s painting series “Marriage-à-la-Mode,” it lives as a musical bridge between Mozart and Rossini, with lyrical melodies and brilliant, challenging ensembles. In Italian, with supertitles by Allison Voth.
Boston University Theatre, Mainstage
Tickets now on sale: $20 general public, $15 BU alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Mar 20
Contemporary Perspectives Lecture: April Greiman
An award-winning designer who revolutionized digital communications design, April Greiman studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and Switzerland’s Basel School of Design. Evolving a design style that links American Postmodernism with the rational clarity of the Swiss school, she continues her innovative work in digital media and hybrid processes from Made in Space, her multidisciplinary design studio in Los Angeles.
CFA Concert Hall
Free and open to the public. Call 617-353-3371 for information.
Apr 2
BU Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Chorus at Symphony Hall V
David Hoose, conductor
Rachmaninoff: The Bells
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 in G minor, “1905”
Symphony Hall
Tickets on sale February 1; $25 general admission. Student Rush $10, available at the door, day of performance, 10am-6pm. BU community: One free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, 10am-6pm. Box Office: www.BostonSymphonyHall.org or 617.266.1200.
Apr 13-29
MFA Exhibitions
The BU School of Visual Arts welcomes art experts and novices alike to experience the work of the next generation of contemporary artists. Four BU galleries, all within easy walking distance, will host exhibitions of painting, sculpture, graphic design, and art education.
Opening Reception April 13, 6-8pm.
All Galleries at Boston University
Free and open to the public. Call 617-353-3371 for information.
Apr 19-22
Dialogues of the Carmelites V
Music by Francis Poulenc
Libretto by Francis Poulenc and Emmet Lavery
From the drama by Georges Bernanos, based on the novel by Gertrude von Le Fort
William Lumpkin, conductor
Sharon Daniels, stage director
A poignant look at the French Revolution through the eyes of a young aristocrat who enters a Carmelite convent in Compiegne to deal with her pathological fear of life, only to witness the revolution unfold around her. Based on the true story of the thirteen sisters of Compiegne, whose defiance of the revolution’s dictates led to their martyrdom at the guillotine. In English, with translation by Joseph Machlis.
Boston University Theatre, Mainstage
Tickets now on sale: $20 general public, $15 BU alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
May 4-10
Assassins* V
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Jim Petosa, director
Matthew Stern, music director
The legendary Sondheim explores the hearts and minds that fill the gallery of America’s most famous assassins, including John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, in a stunning satire of the anarchic political violence that tragically persists at the core of our culture. As the culminating event in the College’s year-long examination of the theme of violence, Assassins brims with a particularly urgent energy.
Boston University Theatre
Tickets on sale September 1: $12 general public, $10 BU Alumni, WGBH members, Huntington subscribers, students, and senior citizens; BU community: one free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
V = Keyword: Violence
* = Production included in School of Theatre subscription package
All artists and programs are subject to change; please visit www.bu.edu/cfa for the most up to date schedules and program information.
VENUES
Boston University Theatre
264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Mainstage
Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Studio 210
Getting There:
T Green Line, E line, Symphony stop
T Orange Line, Mass Ave stop
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
539 Tremont Street
Getting There:
T Green Line, Copley stop
T Orange Line, Back Bay stop
College of Fine Arts Concert Hall
855 Commonwealth Avenue, First Floor, Boston
Getting There:
T Green Line, B line, BU West stop
Morse Auditorium
602 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Getting There:
T Stop Green Line, B line, Blandford Street stop
Symphony Hall
301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston
Getting There:
T Green Line, E line, Symphony stop
T Orange Line, Mass Ave stop
Tsai Performance Center
685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Getting There:
T Green Line, B line, BU East stop
All Art Galleries at Boston University
Visit www.bu.edu/cfa/visual-arts for gallery hours and locations
INSTITUTIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized private research university with more than 30,000 students participating in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. BU consists of 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school’s research and teaching mission. The Boston University College of Fine Arts was created in 1954 to bring together the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. The University’s vision was to create a community of artists in a conservatory-style school offering professional training in the arts to both undergraduate and graduate students, complemented by a liberal arts curriculum for undergraduate students. Since those early days, education at the College of Fine Arts has begun on the BU campus and extended into the city of Boston, a rich center of cultural, artistic and intellectual activity.
MEDIA ONLY
To request press tickets, high resolution photos, or additional information, please contact either:
Jean Connaughton or Ellen Carr
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